The Worst Witch 2017 - Moby Dick
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: After watching Captain Ahab plunge his harpoon into the great white whale's flank, Mildred has no problem seeing Ethel Hallow turning out that way. But can she stop Ethel where the teachers don't even try?


Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch.

I just came up with the idea of Mildred taking the law into her own hands where she and Ethel were concerned since the teachers don't seem prepared to actually do anything practical about it.

Enjoy!

* * *

Moby Dick.

**_The great white whale dove under the sea, the frothing waves washing over the head of a dark-haired man even as the mammoth animal twisted its body as it crashed beneath the waves in a deep dive, the sound it made as it submerged was like ice being crunched. Barely a moment later the whale resurfaced with a thunderous roar as it lifted its massive head out of the water, its white bulk criss-crossed with the dark lines of ropes._**

**_On the body of the whale was the man who had somehow survived his near drowning, in his hands was a long spear-like weapon that she recognised as an old-fashioned harpoon, the like of which was used by whalers to slaughter whales._**

**S**_**he watched as Ahab, which was the name of the man, drove the harpoon into the whale's body, causing blood to gush out of the open wound. He was still plunging the sharp point of the weapon into the whale's body as it plunged beneath the sea, and she wondered how he was able to survive at all, but the whale resurfaced quickly.**_

_**Ahab had ignored the whole thing as he plunged the harpoon into the whale's body over and over again. He ripped it out of the whale's flesh, yelling like a man possessed by a demon, "From hell's heart, I stab at thee," Ahab then plunged the harpoon into the wound, though it didn't seem to be doing any major harm to the whale known as Moby Dick. **__**"For hates' sake, I spit my last breath at thee, thou damned whale!" Ahab cried out hatefully as he repeatedly ripped out and plunged the harpoon point into the whale's body before it dived under again, this time drowning Ahab though it seemed as if he was still alive, though she didn't understand how that was possible.**_

Truthfully Mildred Hubble didn't really understand what had attracted her to watch this old movie starring Gregory Peck, but she had a thing for old movies since they had more quality than most modern movies though she liked a fair few of them as well, there was just something to be said for a good old movie that was well made. The old Star Trek and Star Wars movies were a testament to that, though the recent movies of those two franchises were definitely showing standards were much higher in those respective franchises than they had in other movies.

There was a timeless quality to them that appealed to the artist in Mildred's soul.

But Moby Dick was not usually the type of movie Mildred liked to watch. In truth, she hated violence, and if there was one thing she really disliked it was the needless destruction of animals and life on Earth. It truly did not make sense to the girl why her own species seemed to think they could take and take and take.

Sadly the same was true of witches. Mildred made a face as she thought about the events of the last year, but she pushed them aside and focused on the movie which was just ending. Thinking about the events of the last year made her think of Ethel Hallow, and thinking of Ethel made her think of Moby Dick, or of the feud between Val Jean and Inspector Javier.

Mildred had never read either _Les Miserables_ or _Moby Dick_, but she knew the basics behind both plots, and if she were honest with herself she felt more like Val Jean, a French prisoner who had been arrested and charged with something incredibly needless in her mind. Seriously, being locked up in a prison just for stealing a loaf of bread? When he managed to escape, Val Jean was hunted relentlessly by Inspector Javier, but all the French convict did was try to help others. In a way the two books were incredibly similar, and she could see herself in both of them, though she was neither a French convict nor was she was a whale who was being hounded frequently by whalers who just wanted the blubber under the flesh which kept the animal warm, but she related to them while Ethel Hallow related to Inspector Javier and Captain Ahab.

Okay, granted, she had to admit to herself Ethel was not as inane as Ahab, though it was close considering the behaviour of the girl in the past.

Mildred knew there was a lot more to the blonde than a single-minded desire for revenge, but back in their first year the brunette girl merely wished to get through the year, and actually learn something about magic without Ethel or Hardbroom picking on her, but looking back Mildred could see that it had been Hardbroom who had been worse; Ethel had only lashed out at her whenever she was particularly angry or stressed, but Hardbroom had driven her mad.

Mildred silently watched the ending of the film; she already knew the basic plot well enough to know Moby Dick destroyed the _Pequod_ and killed all but one of the crew, but as she watched the ending of the movie and how Ahab's desire for revenge, how he had driven the crew of whalers into going on the quest with him, had done nothing but to destroy him, his crew, and also his ship, Mildred saw one way Ethel could go.

She wasn't a hundred-per-cent certain whether or not Ethel would grow up enough to see being at war with others would do nothing for her in the future, but she was going to try to do something about it.

After all, she mused to herself, the teachers don't really give a damn one way or another, right?

Mildred bit her lip, and she pulled the laptop over to her, thankful for her holiday allowance otherwise she would never be able to get away with what she was planning to do…

* * *

Ethel Hallow blew out a breath as she virtually threw her schoolbag on the bed and sat down at her desk with a sigh. Her first day back at Cackles was proving to be another broomstick of laughs, like always. Mildred Hubble was always capable of irritating her just by being in her breathing space, but Ethel had done her best to keep any thoughts about the brunette out of her mind.

As she placed Nightstar's carrier case down on her bed, Ethel thought about the myriad fun activities she'd been put through this summer with a grimace, and she quickly put it out of her mind.

She was back at Cackles ready to start the new year. She had no intention of doing ANYTHING even remotely stupid, though she would probably keep annoying Mildred.

Nightstar was meowing as she kept bumping her head and her body against the door and the side of the carrier while she struggled to get out. Ethel spared her a sympathetic look while she dropped her book bag on the desk and she walked over to the cat carrier, and she was just about to open it up when there was a knock on the door.

Ethel groaned and sent her still protesting cat a sympathetic look. "Sorry, Nightstar," she said. "Just give me a few moments."

She walked over to the door and after she briefly went through her spell repertoire for a really mild but still nasty curse before she selected one while the knocking on the door did not end. Ethel sighed and flicked her fingers at the door.

She let out a sigh of relief when she saw who was on the other side of the door. "Esme!" she whispered in relief.

Esmerelda Hallow grinned at her and scrunched up her face in confusion. "Who did you think it was?"

Ethel shrugged. "Dunno," she replied before she winced when Nightstar, who'd had more than enough of being shut inside that carrier, meowed quite loudly.

"Oooh, sorry," Esmerelda was sheepish as she realised she had inadvertently kept Nightstar exiled inside the carrier.

"It's okay," Ethel replied as she unlocked the carrier, and Nightatar leapt out of the case, still yowling with protest at being confined like that. The black cat turned her head and she hissed at the carrier resentfully.

Esmerelda chortled when she took in the scene. Witches familiars always adopted the personality of their witch, and Nightstar had certainly picked up more than a few of Ethel's traits. Sometimes Esme wondered if the world was even ready for more than one Ethel, but she loved the girl.

"Anyway," Ethel turned with a smile, taking her cat's attitude problems in her stride. "What was it you wanted?"

Esmerelda smiled and she removed a package from behind her back, wrapped in brown paper. "Take it."

Ethel took the package intrigued, knowing Esmerelda well enough to know she wasn't going to be harmed. "What is it?" she asked, running her hands over the package for a minute, realising it contained a book. The question was redundant because she was already opening it with her fingers.

Esmerelda shook her head with a smirk. She didn't bother replying because Ethel had already opened the package and two books fell onto the bed. Ethel picked one of the books up, frowning curiously. "What's '_Moby Dick'_ about?" she asked but she didn't let her older sister reply because she had picked up the second book. "Why are you giving it to me?"

Esme shrugged. "I thought it might be interesting for you," she replied, knowing precisely what to say. "I've given Sybie a copy of a book called '_The Secret Garden,_" she added, "I thought it might be a great idea to give you two something to read so then you wouldn't get bored.'

"Hold it. You just gave Sybil a single book? Why?" Ethel asked.

"You know why. You know she's not really interested in reading, which isn't surprising given how much aggro our parents have given her about reading over the years," Esmerelda replied, looking at her funnily for forgetting that fact.

Ethel sighed and realised her sister was right. The reading material back at the mansion was limited, and truthfully reading had never really been easy for Sybil when they were growing up. Oh, Sybil was capable of reading and writing - no doubt about that, but she found it quite boring because she had been forced to read books about magic all of her childhood. It was their parent's idea of leaning, though really their grandmother was the one to teach all of them since their parents couldn't be bothered to actually take the time to do it properly - even Ethel was realistic enough to recognise and to even acknowledge that.

At first, Sybil had been allowed to read magical nursery rhyme and fairy stories, but then their parents had stopped it and pushed harder books into her lap. Now she rarely picked up or even opened a book unless she had to.

Ethel wondered just what Esmerelda had needed to do to make their younger sister read that book, but knowing Esme, Ethel guessed Sybil had been gently persuaded to read it, reassured it had nothing to do with magic. It was practically the only way really.

But there was just one question on Ethel's mind. "Where did you get them, Esme? I've never heard of," she paused as she studied the names of the author printed on the book. "Herman Melville. That doesn't sound… Hold on," she said looking up at Esmerelda in surprise, "he's a non-magical author right?"

"So what if he is?" Esmerelda replied in a challenging manner as she folded her arms and stared Ethel down. "Just because that book was written by someone without magic in it doesn't mean the book isn't insightful. Just give it a go."

Ethel looked down at the books, torn. She had lashed out at Mildred Hubble under the pretence of coming from the non-magical world, but truthfully her reasons for bullying Mildred were a little more complex than that, and besides Esmerelda had very nearly ended up going to the non-magical world in a school after her powers had been handed over to Agatha due to Ethel's own hubris and her desire for recognition, only she was older now and wiser. She knew there was no doubt her parents would have been unimpressed. They had made it very clear over the summer after her first year if she ever did that again she would be disowned. Permanently.

"Okay," Ethel finally nodded.

Esmerelda smiled before she left the room.

* * *

Mildred was getting her own bedroom sorted out when there was knock on the door. "Yes?" she called, turning her head and waiting for the door to open. She smiled when Esmerelda Hallow stepped in.

"Did she take it?" she asked.

"Yeah," Esmerelda replied. "She was a bit…off about the idea of reading a book written by a non-magical author, but she will read it. Are you sure about this, Mildred? Ethel might learn a great deal from those books but when she learns what you've got in mind, she might lose it."

Mildred nodded knowing full well Esmerelda was telling the truth. "I know. You're right," she said.

"Mildred, why did you want me to give those books to Ethel and Sybil?"

"Sybil because I thought she might enjoy it, and Ethel….,' Mildred trailed off while she sorted through her thoughts. "I sometimes worry Ethel could go too far with this feud, but if my plan succeeds, we'll have worked through it."

"I hope you're right," Esmerelda replied, and it was all she said before she left the bedroom, but she was stopped when Mildred spoke from behind her.

"So do I. But let's face it; the only people who can stop Ethel and I fighting… is Ethel and I. The teachers won't do anything to stop it. One or two might try, but HB and Cackle have made it quite clear they expect us to fight amongst ourselves as if expecting that would help in the long term. They either don't realise, or they don't want to realise things could get serious. It will be just like Agatha all over again; she tried to take over the school twice, but did they do anything to really stop her? Wipe her memory? Put her in a more secure prison? No. They didn't."

Mildred knew it was out of order to mention Agatha and compare her to Ethel in front of the blonde's elder sister, but she needed to make her point.

"I'm sorry about using Agatha to make my point. But Esmerelda, I don't want Ethel to become someone like Agatha; virtually everyone in this school thinks it will happen, but I don't because I've seen the person who tries to be better. If the teachers won't do anything, well I'll have to take the law into my own hands."

Esmerelda turned her head around. While she didn't like the idea of Mildred taking the law into her own hands, especially if Ethel was involved, she had to admit the idea Mildred had was a good one. And she was right - the teachers had not even tried to do anything to make Ethel change; oh, Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom LOVED to talk about how nasty Ethel was, but they either didn't seem to realise they were part of the problem themselves, or they just did not care.

Esmerelda had lost her respect for the teachers. When she had lost her powers, both teachers seemed to have just banished her from their thoughts, Merlin only knew why, though it was possible that because she was no longer there, no longer able to represent the school in tournaments and stuff like that, they had decided to put her out of their memory; she had been hurt but not bothered when she had hard Cackle make that lie about thinking about her when she'd escaped her family home to visit her sisters.

So she didn't really care what Mildred hoped to gain this time around, though she hoped Ethel did not get hurt. Granted Esmerelda had no idea what the rest of Mildred's plan was going to entail or what the brunette hoped would happen, though Mildred had told her to keep watch on Ethel to make sure she read the books. Once she had reached that point, Mildred would tell her what else she had in mind.

She just did not know for sure if it would be a good thing or a bad thing.

* * *

Months later.

* * *

Ethel put down her copy of _Moby Dick_, a frown on her face as her mind was awash with the conjured image of a mighty white whale as it destroyed the whaling ship _Pequod _after Captain Ahab had tried to kill the animal in his mad quest for vengeance after spending years hunting the whale which had crippled him. Ahab had sailed across the oceans seeking the white whale, planning to kill him even over the advice of Starbuck. The book

In the end, the quest had brought him nothing but death, and the cost was not only something which encompassed Ahab, but also his crew, and his ship after everyone onboard the ship had been promised the glory of killing the white whale. But Ethel could not see the promise herself. Ahab had wanted to kill Moby Dick to make the whale pay for crippling him, he didn't care about continuing his trade as a whaler, not as long as he couldn't kill Moby Dick.

She looked at the book thoughtfully, and she smiled. While the book may have been a bit of a handful to read and the religious undertones a bit too much for her to take since magicians did not believe in any type of god especially since they had something more real to believe and worship, which was magic, the book had actually been enjoyable.

Ethel looked at the book curiously again, once more wondering what in Magics' name had inspired Esme to give it to her in the first place.

Well, she had finished the book, now she was going to go to Esmerelda to find out what the game was. She had planned it out, she would read the book to see what was so great about it, and then she would speak to Esme.

She'd had plenty of time. With her status as the top student of the year it had been easy for Ethel to find and make the time to read the novel without Miss Hardbroom finding out though truthfully Ethel had no idea if the woman would vanish the book simply because it had nothing to do with schooling, but now she was finished she simply wanted answers to her questions.

Stroking Nightstar behind the ears, Ethel picked up her book bag and slipped the book inside. She left the bedroom and headed for Esme's bedroom. Her elder sister had been held back for missing out a year, something Ethel still kicked herself for because it was her fault but luckily Esmerelda had her own bedroom though Ethel had the impression the older girl genuinely did not give a damn about where in the castle she was staying in so long as she was close to her sisters.

After a brief walk, Ethel came to the door and knocked on it, waiting. Ordinarily the Hallow sisters wouldn't really care about etiquette when it came to each other, but the seven or eight seconds it would take for Esmerelda to either call her in or to open the door by either hand or magic would give her plenty of time to work out the best way to put her questions out to the older girl.

Ethel didn't even blink when the door opened, and she wasn't surprised when she saw Esmerelda sitting on the bed, idly stroking her cat Morgana.

"Hi, Ethie," Esme greeted quietly with a smile.

Ethel smiled back, noting immediately her sister was extremely tired and she momentarily wondered if this was such a great idea any more but she decided to just get it over with. She was here now and it was a good idea to just get it out.

"Hi, Esme," she said, stepping inside; she didn't need to ask permission really, though a part of her did wonder if it was a good idea or not since Esmerelda did look tired.

Esme's expression looked almost haggard. "Was there something you wanted?"

Ethel didn't bother to answer verbally. She just took the copy of _Moby Dick_ out of her book bag and placed it on Esme's bed. The older girl watched her silently for a moment and then opened her mouth. But if Ethel was expecting some kind of enlightening explanation for why the book had been given to her she was in for a disappointment.

"Look, Ethel, do you mind if we do this in the morning? I'm very tired…," Esmerelda began but Ethel instantly interrupted. "No, I want to know why you gave me this book,' she jabbed the hardcover of the novel with a finger for emphasis though truthfully it was a rather pointless thing to do on her part, "I have been waiting for months."

"Ethel!" Esmerelda's voice cracked like a whip, silencing the truculent girl instantly.

Ethel quietened down, albeit defiantly. She realised a little bit too late her sister was tired and worn out, but her need for answers had caused her to get on the wrong side of her sister.

Esmerelda savoured the peace and quiet for a moment. She had been waiting for this moment for months while she waited for whatever plan Mildred had come up with to come to pass, but she wished her sister had waited for a few more hours, preferably when they were both rested from another fun day at Cackles.

But no. Why did Ethel always have to be so demanding? Esmerelda loved her sisters deeply, but she just wished Ethel was both more tactful and diplomatic enough to realise when there was a time and a place, but it seemed like tact and diplomacy were things that were not in Ethel's biology.

"I am tired," Esmerelda said slowly and quietly as though she were trying to keep awake but the conversation was making her want to drop off. "I have had a very long day. There is plenty of time for you to ask questions, you don't have to have answers immediately Ethel. Now… please get out!"

Ethel was taken by surprise by her sister's uncharacteristic refusal, and she was rooted to the spot. Esmerelda, taking that for childish refusal, just groaned and flicked her fingers, sending her sister away back to her bedroom, using her superior magical knowledge to keep Ethel in her bedroom for a night. The spell on Ethel's door would cancel itself out by morning and since it was above Ethel's level, the younger blonde would not be able to get out before morning. Hopefully, by that time they would both have become fresh again by morning.

Esmerelda kissed Morgana's head and put the cat down on the floor so she could get under the covers of her decidedly uncomfortable bed, but then her Mag-let chirped. She sighed and picked it up, her fatigue and the awful lighting in the room made it difficult to see the message clearly so it took her a while to focus properly on the message.

"_Tell me - Ethel."_

Esmerelda sighed, annoyed by her sister's persistence. She tapped in a message of her own. "_GO TO BED - NOW!" _

After spelling the mag-let to silent mode though she timed it so then the instrument would still pick up messages and the chime would return by morning, Esmerelda got under the covers and turned off the lights. Her last thoughts before she went to bed was she would have a talk with Mildred about roping her into little plans like this….

* * *

The next day Ethel was waiting for Esmerelda in a disused classroom. The location alone was confusing to the blonde girl since there was nothing in the old classroom barring a few dusty chairs and old desks which looked like they had seen better times, though the teachers had long started using the place as a junk room. Merlin only knew what had been taught here, but Ethel didn't particularly care. What she did want to know was why her sister was being mysterious.

All Esme had told her was to come to this old classroom and wait.

It had taken a fair bit of persuasion on Esme's part after last night to get Ethel to come here. Ethel had been put out (a polite way of saying pissed off) with what Esme had done last night; sending her back to her bedroom, spelling it locked with a spell which would not come down until the next morning, and not responding to her mag-let messages, but her elder sister knew precisely what to say and do to entice her to do what she wanted. Ethel hated that it was so easy for Esme to do that, but it was a fact of her life.

Now here she was, waiting.

Ethel checked her watch, but when she was on the verge of just walking out of the room and forgetting the whole thing, the door creaked open - the hinges were so old and rusted just moving them made it sound like the metal was on the point of shearing off - and Esmerelda stepped in -

"Esme-," Ethel smiled, but her smile died when she saw who was with her, and her smiling visage dropped, replaced with a glare. "Mildred Hubble! What are you doing here?"

Mildred didn't look bothered by the glare as she and Esmerelda stepped into the room. "I thought you wanted to know where you got Moby Dick from?" the brunette said in mock confusion.

Ethel couldn't believe it and she was shocked into silence for a second. "You-you gave me that book? But Esme-?" she went silent as the thought materialised in her mind.

"Would you have read the book if I'd given it to you, Ethel?" Mildred asked in a rhetorical manner, knowingly or unknowing - Ethel didn't know which it was - echoing Ethel's thought which had just popped into the blonde's head, but all three of the witches in the room knew the answer. No, Ethel would not have even touched the book if Mildred had handed it to her. Mildred shook her head. "No, Ethel. I had to give it to Esmerelda because it was the only way I could get you to read it."

"But why?" Ethel shook her head, astonished Mildred had come up with such an elaborate plan. The brunette was not the type of girl to come up with such schemes, though Ethel had some experience to know most of the things Mildred had come up with had been a spur of the moment blind luck ideas which had worked.

Mildred sighed solemnly. "Because I wanted things to become better between us, that's why."

"It will take more than a book to convince me to like you!" Ethel spat harshly, suddenly angry as she remembered each and every time the brunette had either gotten in the way or she had done something which had humiliated her (Ethel). The blonde was unlikely to forget those moments.

"Didn't you notice any parallels between the book and our relationship?" Mildred asked unexpectedly, silencing the blonde from losing her temper completely. "Yeah, I know I've given you grief, but most of it was unintentional."

"But… but you hate me!" Ethel spluttered in disbelief.

Mildred gaped at her in astonishment. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "W-what? W-why would you think that?'

"Because of everything I've done to you-."

"Oh, you mean like that trick with Mr Rowan-Webb? How you froze me when I was admiring the Founding Stone? How you bullied me?" Mildred interrupted her, still looking at her with that solemn manner which, in all honesty, was beginning to grate on the blonde's nerves. "I don't hate you, Ethel. In fact, I never knew you thought I did, but now I do, it makes sense. When I gave Esme those books - yeah, I thought The Secret Garden would be something Sybil would love to read - I wanted to make you see what could happen if you go too far."

Ethel processed that explanation, while she was annoyed Mildred would think she would go as far as Captain Ahab she could also see where the brunette was going. "You think I might become like Ahab?" she asked.

Mildred shrugged, noting out of the corner of her eye Esmerelda's curiosity since she didn't know the full summary of the plot of the novel though it was likely Esmerelda would pick up the copy and read it for herself to get answers, those were things Esmerelda could do for herself. "It's possible," she said, "and lets face it; while the teachers are probably unaware of the novel, if they read it and see the way Ahab became increasingly more insane, and find out what happened to him and the _Pequod_ at the end of the novel, and if you came up they might compare you with Ahab simply because they see what they want to see. It's not hard to work out Ethel, but I thought reading _Moby Dick_ might actually help you."

"Help me?" Ethel echoed, intrigued. "In what way?"

Mildred just stared at her as casually as she could so Ethel would not see the worry that was beginning to spread through her. She honestly had no idea what Ethel was going to do. "I didn't come to Cackles to get enemies, Ethel; but it seems to be what I've done since I've arrived. Agatha, Miss Mould, Miss Hardbroom… But I don't see you as an enemy. I don't want us to, either. But you probably do, so I wanted to show you what could happen. You read the novel," she waved a hand, "you know what happened with Ahab. Do you really want to end up like that?"

Ethel went silent at that, giving Mildred enough time to make her next point. "Ethel, the teachers are already convinced you're going to be bad, so why not do the opposite?"

"It's not that easy," Ethel replied.

Mildred sighed at what she perceived to be the girl's stubbornness. "Okay, but why do you think I hate you so much?"

A long time ago Ethel had reasoned this all out in her mind, and now she vented it for the brunette's benefit though she had never originally planned for Mildred to actually hear it. "You and Maudy Maud plotted to get me kicked out of the Academy before the Entrance Exam even happened," Ethel said, her voice making it clear to Mildred she had convinced herself of this long ago, "you two were already best friends, and you both plotted and schemed to cheat at the exam so then I would fail so you wouldn't have to put up with me."

Mildred shook her head, amazed and completely shocked.

To the side, virtually forgotten by the two younger teenagers Esmerelda was watching the scene quietly, hoping today would be the day where Ethel finally grew up out of this silly fantasy since she knew Mildred had probably been more interested in knowing more about magic than finding someone to fight it out. She had told Ethel more than once she was overthinking things, but her younger sister had refused to listen.

But Ethel wasn't finished. "And then there is how everything goes well for you, and how it all goes wrong for me; the Spelling Bee, for instance? Remember that?" Ethel pressed as she became worked up.

"Ethel, I didn't even _want_ to be involved in the Spelling Bee in the first place," Mildred pointed out, doing her best to remain calm. "I knew it was beyond me; I'd made the mistake of trying to take part in the Entrance Exam, and I didn't want to go through with the same mistake again. But witching tradition being what it is I couldn't avoid it.

"I had the food taken out of my mouth and given brain food instead when Hardbroom at the last minute said after all that grief, all those extra lessons, those pointless exercise games, and that never-ending studying, that you were going to be the one doing the Bee," Mildred snapped bitterly, remembering how she had wanted to ram that stupid whistle up Miss Drill's nose for constantly blowing it into her ear, and how she had felt when her dinner had been taken from her, though none of it mattered in the end because Hardbroom had snidely told her she would not take part before making a string of nasty remarks about her background in the non-magical world.

"But what about the Scholarship-?" Ethel had to ask.

"What about it? Why would I take a kind offer from someone whom I didn't know?" Mildred countered, wondering for a second if she should tell the two Hallows about what her mother had to go through, but then she decided not to risk it; she didn't know and frankly did not give a damn what Cackle or Hardbroom thought, but the idea of explaining it all for the Hallow sister was not something she wanted to do. There was also the risk this whole thing would blow up in her face, and Ethel would know something confidential. "I'd only heard about Miss Pentangle once or twice, but even if I had taken the offer, I'd still be seen as the Worst Witch," she spat the final two words.

"I don't hate you, Ethel, I never did. I just don't get why you think I was out to get you from the word go," Mildred went on, hoping to drop the matter of Pentangles once and for all.

"I-I was scared," Ethel whispered, making Esme rub her shoulder comfortingly.

"Scared, of what?" Mildred asked in surprise.

"Everything," the blonde girl admitted, smiling gratefully up at Esmerelda. "I was scared of my exam, having to cope with people, shaming my family. I arrived at the school punctually, but then Cackle and HB told me after I had impressed them both with my flying skills, to basically not bother since Esmerelda was the star student. It put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day."

Mildred remembered but she tactfully did not even bother to mention it, but she was surprised Ethel had just practically admitted she was frightened of that day, though it made sense. Ethel might appear to be super confident, but she was still human and was bound to have her drawbacks. "I'm sorry," Mildred whispered.

"I try to come across as someone confident, but most of the time, I'm just scared," Ethel admitted, though she wasn't sure why she was admitting this.

"You don't see anything but your flaws," Mildred realised, making Ethel look at her shocked. "Everyone has flaws, Ethel. You've got them, I've got them, but those flaws are what makes you who you are. You work too hard on yourself."

Mildred looked down as she tried to work out what she could say next. She didn't want to be here all day, and there was no telling if one of the teachers stumbled upon this thing and made things worse. "Ethel, can't we try to be more friendly?" she asked, hoping to move on; she and Ethel could work through their mutual issues with time, but for now she just wanted to get through the blonde girl. "All this fighting… it is just not worth it. That's why I gave you the book to read. There is a film based on Moby Dick, and I watched it over the summer. I hate to admit it," Mildred added hesitantly, not even daring to voice what she'd just learnt about the blonde, "but I could see how you could have become like Ahab, and I didn't want that."

Ethel looked at her shocked, she had heard this before, but listening to Mildred now made her see the brunette had a point. She could become like Ahab, someone twisted, someone out only for revenge. Or she could become like Agatha, someone who wanted something that was unattainable.

"Can we be friends?" Mildred asked.

Ethel looked at her in surprise. But then she nodded. "Yeah," she said.

* * *

Until my next one-shot or story.


End file.
